‘I’m sorry to hear that. That must have been incredibly difficult.’
‘Yes. It was a shock, just like this. And I had small children to worry about then. Truth be told, Olivia was not a well woman before she died. Marcus was always a great help. Especially once Olivia was gone.’
Outside a bird swoops suddenly towards the pool and flits across the surface. Inside, the only sound I can hear is the soft whir of the air-conditioner.
‘Is there anything you can think of that might be worth telling us about?’ I ask. ‘Something she said? Even something that seems like a little thing?’
Bryce and Timothy exchange looks again but shake their heads. Marcus swallows noisily. George Ryan just stares at his hands.
‘Well, thank you. We’ll leave you alone.’ I stand up and gesture at Felix to do the same. ‘We truly are so sorry. Look after yourselves. You’ve had a terrible shock. We’ll do everything we can to work out what happened to Rosalind.’
They all stand except for George. His eyes fix on me, years and sorrow etched into his face. ‘Yes. Please find out who did this to my daughter.’
Marcus walks us to the front door.
‘We’ll be working through her phone records, her house, what happened on the night she died—everything.’ Felix shakes Marcus’s hand. ‘We’re doing everything we can.’
Marcus holds his hand for a few beats.
Felix adds, ‘One of you will need to come down to the station today to complete the identification. Your father may not be up to it?’
‘Oh. Yes, of course. Well, I’ll speak to Dad and see whether he wants to … or perhaps I’ll just go myself. He’s probably not really well enough. He’s supposed to have strict rest until Monday.’
‘How about I call you in an hour? You can let me know then,’ says Felix.
‘Yes. Alright.’ His face crumples before he pulls it back into line. ‘God,’ he says, almost to himself.
‘Marcus, make sure you tell any other family and friends sooner rather than later,’ I say gently. ‘This will be all over the news tonight.’
He nods, looking lost.
We step outside into the heat.
Felix pauses and turns to face Marcus again. ‘Did Rosalind keep living here after she finished school?’
Marcus stands in the doorway. I can see glimmers of his father starting to creep onto his face. ‘Ah, no, she wanted to do the student thing. Plus, I think being the only girl … perhaps it was a bit hard for her. I think she felt a bit lost living here. She never really found her place. Anyway, she moved to Sydney, did arts at uni and travelled a bit—you know, normal stuff.’ He pauses and we wait, both thinking he’s going to say something else, but he just stands there blinking at us.
After a few moments Felix smiles sadly. ‘Well, take care, okay? Like I said, I’ll give you a call in a little while. But you call us anytime you need. Or if you think of anything.’
Marcus moves his mouth into a tight smile and closes the door gently, his footsteps echoing as he walks down the hall.
‘Wow,’ Felix whistles, as we make our way down the driveway.
‘Wow what?’
‘I don’t know, but they’re something.’
We get back into the car. ‘Can you be more specific?’
‘Well, I don’t know where to start.’ Felix fastens his seatbelt. ‘I mean, we’ve obviously dropped a bombshell on them, but they seem so weird. No wonder she got out of there.’
‘Define “weird”.’
‘That.’ Felix makes his eyes bug out and I laugh.
‘Timothy looked at me funny,’ I say. ‘Like defensive or something.’
‘He had a weird vibe. They all did. Especially the younger two.’
‘Well, they were in shock.’
Felix dismisses the Ryans’ shock with a wave of his hand. ‘They were strange. Like cardboard cut-outs. And Marcus would have to be the most awkward person on the planet. I want to run background on all of them and get alibis confirmed asap.’
‘Of course,’ I agree. ‘I just don’t want to jump to conclusions. Getting news like that throws you. You’re allowed to act a bit weird.’ I start the car and pull away from the kerb.
‘When can I see you?’ Felix says.
‘Huh?’
‘When can I see you? You know, properly?’ His voice has a desperate edge and my body stirs in response.
I keep my eyes on the road. I think about this morning in the shower. It feels like it happened a long time ago. I blink the scene away. I wonder if I’m still bleeding. I can hear his breathing next to me. I guide us back towards the station. Felix grabs my thigh hard, digging his fingers in around its curve.
‘Monday night,’ I say, staring straight ahead, my heart beating so loudly I think he can probably hear it.
Chapter Five
Saturday, 12 December, 7.03 pm
Scott looks up from whatever he is frying on the stovetop as I walk in. He takes in my drawn face and what he calls my ‘police eyes’; the intensity that is reserved specifically for tracking down evil.
‘Bad day?’ he says evenly.
I look up to answer him but am distracted by aerial shots of the crime scene at Sonny Lake on the TV. I recognise the top of my head. The footage is interspersed with a recent head shot and a photo of Rosalind dressed in white and smiling prettily at our debutante ball. She looked like an angel that night. I hated my deb dress. I remember Jacob clumsily giving me a corsage on our front porch as Dad self-consciously snapped photos. I spent the entire evening trying to adjust the straps on my dress. In every photo from that night I have a slightly pained look on my face. My foundation was about two shades too dark and my lipstick too brown. If that was my first foray into womanhood I would say I failed spectacularly.
Ben careers around the doorway from the hall and catapults into my legs, wrapping his arms around me. ‘Mummy!’
‘Hey, sweetheart.’
‘Granddad and I flew a kite!’
‘That’s great, darling.’
‘You’re on this case?’ Scott tips his head towards the TV.
‘Yep.’
‘On the case, on the case,’ Ben babbles and I shoot a look at Scott.
‘Hey, buddy, why don’t you go get those stickers Granddad gave you to show Mum?’
I watch Ben’s dark curls bob up and down as he runs off along the hallway to fetch his latest favourite thing.
‘Did you know her? She went to Smithson, right?’
‘Yep. She was in my class. I knew her.’
‘Jesus.’ Scott flips off the gas and starts to spoon stir-fry onto two waiting plates and into Ben’s Peter Rabbit bowl.
Ben explodes back into the room, clutching his new stickers.
‘Look! Look, Mum. See? I have Ninja Turtles! All of them!’